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Tag: Joey Logan

  • Hot 20 – At least the Kansas race this year is not sponsored by SpongeBob or the Ninja Turtles

    Hot 20 – At least the Kansas race this year is not sponsored by SpongeBob or the Ninja Turtles

    Brand names, especially strong memorable ones, can truly make an event stand out. The Daytona 500, the Southern 500, and the Brickyard 400 have meaning or should, with proper marketing. The Firecracker 400, Old Dominion 500, Mason-Dixon 500 all had a ring to them, not the ka-ching ring they were tossed aside for.

    The GoBowling.com 400 this Saturday night in Kansas is a case in point. In fact, it is the very same name of a race held in Dover in 2013 and 2014, tradition be damned. To be fair, it could have been a lot worse. Remember, last year this race was known as the SpongeBob SquarePants 400, a time no doubt when more than a few veteran fans said to hell with it and started tuning in for rhythmic gymnastics for their sports fix.

    Even more iconic corporate monikers, such as the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, which has gone by variations of that theme for thirty years, fail to cut it. As was the case with the Coca-Cola 500 at Pocono, one day the corporation will move its money elsewhere. The smart play would be to forever let it be known as the World 600, as it was known for its first 26 years. Even the Coca-Cola World 600 of 1985 remained true to the heritage of the sport while retaining the brand name of the event and still recognizing the corporate support. Today, even the sponsor loses. You tell me what has more substance; the GoBowling.com 400 or the GoBowling.com Kansas 400?

    College football had wandered off the traditional path, and even today the Gator Bowl, around since 1945, has been the Taxpayer Bowl since 2014. However, the academic folks were smart enough to realize its season-ending playoffs would be best served by embracing tradition. This is why we have millions tuning into the Rose, Orange, Sugar, Cotton, Peach, and Fiesta Bowls, with a title sponsor attached. For eight years we had the Chick-fil-A Bowl, but the “Peach Bowl” name was restored as a condition of joining the College Football Playoff rotation. You know, sometimes those schools have some bright people among them. NASCAR could use some of them.

    What they do have are some pretty good drivers, with one of them about to win another (Place Sponsor Name Here) 400 event. Again, it could be worse. While SpongeBob and NASCAR team up for a new apparel line, just wait until September when we have the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 in Chicago. I kid you not.

    Our Hot 20 heading to Kansas include…

    1. KYLE BUSCH – 2 WINS – 342 PTS
    I must admit I am not a big Skittles fan, but if Kyle ever gets a Smartie’s cake, I am in.

    2. CARL EDWARDS – 2 WINS – 337 PTS
    Damn near hit the wall last weekend. Thankfully, Junior got in the way.

    3. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2 WINS – 329 PTS
    Won it for SpongeBob last spring and maybe now he can win it for the bowlers of the world.

    4. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 2 WINS – 300 PTS
    Should be wearing an “I survived Talladega” fire suit.

    5. KEVIN HARVICK – 1 WIN – 351 PTS
    On Sunday, he aborted take-off…and that was a good thing.

    6. DENNY HAMLIN – 1 WIN – 269 PTS
    Did not have a banner day last week, but as he already has a win, no big deal.

    7. JOEY LOGANO – 316 PTS
    My guess is if Logano caught fire, his peers would be lining up to help put it out.

    8. KURT BUSCH – 312 PTS
    When push comes to shove, Kurt has been pushing hard…and then the wrecks happen.

    9. DALE EARNHARDT JR. – 279 PTS
    Replacing the steering wheel with handlebars Saturday night.

    10. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 274 PTS
    When times got tough, Truex simply got tougher…and wiser.

    11. AUSTIN DILLON – 272 PTS
    Seventeen pit stops, four wrecks, and yet a third place finish at Talladega on the Intimidator’s 65th birthday.

    12. CHASE ELLIOTT – 271 PTS
    If you thought the world loved young Chase, you were not listening to the in-car audio.

    13. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 261 PTS
    I thought he was having a good season, but he trails Harvick by 90 points and is yet to lead a lap.

    14. A.J. ALLMENDINGER – 232 PTS
    Talladega might have been a trying day, but he is back in a Chase place heading into Saturday.

    15. MATT KENSETH – 231 PTS
    Thinking of driving a bus at Kansas. The wheels on a bus go round and round, not up and over.

    16. TREVOR BAYNE – 228 PTS
    Last four starts have seen a rise in Bayne’s fortunes.

    17. KASEY KAHNE – 224 PTS
    Wants to lead a lap…any lap…anywhere…at some time this season.

    18. RYAN BLANEY – 219 PTS
    Twenty-ninth in Texas, 11th at Bristol, 28th in Richmond, and ninth last week seems to show inconsistency.

    19. RYAN NEWMAN – 219 PTS
    Ten races, one ninth place finish and another in 10th, might be better than most, but not good enough.

    20. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 218 PTS
    Within 10 of Bayne, and still has a 17 point bulge over Paul Menard in 21st.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Auto Club 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Auto Club 400

    From the moment Sugar Ray Leonard dropped the green flag for the pole and outside pole sitters, Juan Pablo Montoya in his fiery red No. 42 Target Chevrolet and Denny Hamlin in his No. 11 FedEx Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, expectations were high at the fourteen degree banked, wide open track in Fontana, California.

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Victor Decolongon/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”273″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising in the purposely shorter Auto Club 400, down in length by 20% and 100 miles from last year:

    Surprising:  After an absolutely dominant performance by Kyle Busch, who led the most laps at 151 and ascended to 29th on the all-time laps led leader list surpassing Fireball Roberts, and a late race charge by Fontana favorite Jimmie Johnson, one driver led less than a lap and took the checkered flag.

    Bakersfield, California native Kevin Harvick finally got that coveted first win at his home state track, Auto Club Speedway. Reminiscent of his racing idol the late, great Dale Earnhardt, Harvick sported his own brand of intimidation, bumping Jimmie Johnson just enough to rattle him so Harvick could slip by for the win on the last lap.

    “Well we had them all beat last year and I gave it away,” Harvick said in a Budweiser-soaked Victory Lane. “What a great day.”

    “All these guys did a great job on pit road,” Harvick continued. “Gil (Martin) made the right call. We held those guys off and our car just kept going.”

    “Today we had a fast car and the circumstances played in our favor.”

    This was Harvick’s 15th victory, putting him in a tie with Ernie Irvan for 48th on NASCAR’s all-time Cup Series win list. This was team owner Richard Childress’ 95th Cup Series win, but the team’s first ever win at Auto Club Speedway as well.

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising to see five-time champ Jimmie Johnson, piloting the very familiar No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, finish in the runner up position. This was Johnson’s 10th top-two finish in 17 races at Auto Club Speedway.

    “It reminded me of last year in the spring race,” Johnson said. “We just couldn’t hold him off.”

    “I knew he was coming,” Johnson said of Harvick. “If I could have got by the 18 a lot sooner, it might have been enough, but I was way loose and driving my butt off.”

    “Just glad it turned out to be a decent day.”

    Surprising: In spite of losing the race after being so dominant, it was surprising to see this ‘new’ Kyle Busch take it all in stride. Busch stood calmly by his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, waiting to share his thoughts on his third place finish and his first top ten finish in the past four races at Auto Club Speedway.

    “We gave the race away today unfortunately,” Busch said. “We seemed to be losing the handle on that last set of tires and couldn’t get the right speed I needed.”

    “I can’t say enough about the guys on pit road and the guys back at the shop,” Busch continued. “They got us in position but unfortunately I couldn’t get the job done today.”

    “I just didn’t have what it took there at the end.”

    Not Surprising: After having a chance at the race win and falling back, it was not surprising to see Tony Stewart pitch his gloves off after the race and stalk out of his car to his hauler, waving off any media who dared approach him. Stewart, who had run in the top five most of the day, making daring pit calls with his crew chief to stay out when others pitted for tires, faded back to finish 13th.

    With that finish, Stewart ended a four race streak of top-10 finishes at Auto Club Speedway. The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for the team that bears his name also fell three spots in the point standings to the sixth spot.

    Surprising: Unfortunately, the engine woes that have been plaguing Joe Gibbs Racing continued this weekend. Young Joey Logano had to start at the back of the pack due to an engine change, clawing his way back up to a 25th place finish.

    Even more devastating was the engine failure of Denny Hamlin, who had been the outside pole sitter and who looked to be a contender early in the race. After nursing his wounded car along and then going a lap down, Hamlin finally gave it up and headed to the garage.

    “We’ve got to go to work and figure out how to get the reliability back,” Hamlin said. “Our engine department has got to go to work.”

    “It was a slow death for our car today.”

    Not Surprising:  Sadly the curse of the first lap leader continued at Auto Club Speedway. In 21 races at the track, the first lap leader has never gone on to win the race.

    This was the case for Juan Pablo Montoya, who started off in the pole position and led that first deadly lap. Montoya had his struggles but did manage to rally back for a top ten finish, keeping him solidly in eighth position in the point standings.

    Surprising:  Both Red Bull teams had amazingly good runs in Fontana this weekend. Brian Vickers, in the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, finished eighth while teammate Kasey Kahne, in his No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, followed right behind in the ninth position.

    “Well, we wanted to win,” Vickers said. “But this is just what the Red Bull 83 team needed.”

    Not Surprising: Carl Edwards, who has been so dominant this season, finished sixth. With his good run, Edwards was able to assume his place on top of the points leader board, now officially the first repeat points leader in five races this season.